If you love the spirit of old Kolkata and the old-school Chinese cuisine, you will surely love Tung Nam! You will love the place the way it is today. The place wears a wrinkled look but you need to see through her eyes and read her mind, in terms of serving best-in-class old-school Chinese food she is still the best in town. If you are here at this place you will feel as if you are in a time warp!
Many people of my age or younger are unaware of the existance of this place but once you try them out you will surely spread the word, and this word-of-mouth advertising is very much required for this age old eatery. Now let's get down to the review:
Location ---- Couple of weeks back I was here at this place with one of my foodie friends, both of us had little clue about the location. Actually it is a bit tricky for the ones who are not regular at this place near Terreti Bazar. You need to get down at Central Metro Station and take the lane alongside the dark Shivaji statue. You have to walk for a minute or two and then you will find the place on your left. It's best if you turn on your GPS when you are coming out of the Central Metro station. Parking your car in front of the eatery can again be a bit tricky. You might need to park it somewhere near Poddar Court, which is very close though.
Ambiance ---- As I said earlier the place literally is worn out, it is bit dilapidated with decaying walls and not-so-cool sitting arrangements, simple wooden tables and plastic chairs, and ofcourse no AC. But hey, who cares! Atleast for a foodie like me this is a piece of heaven, one hidden gem! You will find some ancient chandeliers and lamps which are screaming out the tales of bygone era and making things even more enigmatic. On the tables you will find small and cute Coke and Thumpsup bottles as Salt and pepper shakers. Apart from that the cutleries are not that impressive, chopsticks are provided on request. The place is frequented by local Chinese people and Bengali foodies who are surely the loyalists, to say the least.
Food ---- Both in terms of quality and quantity I will rate this place 5 out of 5, no doubt about that. Most of their dishes can be shared by two. We had ordered for:
a) CHICKEN WANTON SOUP: It was heaven for me. On my next visit to this place I have promised only to have this soup for my meal, nothing else. One bowl of soup is sufficient for two. The clear broth is extremely flavourful, aromatic, soothing and healthy. It has got nearly ten steamed chicken wantons in it, clear soup with lovely meat chunks, mustard green and silky wanton skins...bliss! Add a bit of chilli vinegar, soya sauce, red pasted chillies and you are sure to fall into a state of euphoric evarlasting joy! It'll be a crime if you don't try this item out.
b) PORK HAMEI SAUCES: A dream dish for pork lovers. Tug Nam has been always a heaven for them. Pork in Hamei Sauce is good and goes well with Yaam Mein. It has got one typical smell from the oil of that Hamei sauce which might not suit everyone. The pork pieces were soft and well cooked with right proportion of fat in it. Quantity was good as well. Will try out their chilli pork next time.
c) VEG YAAM MEIN: I absolutely loved this preparation and maybe I'm going to try them out everytime I am at this place. It is one better tasty tossed noodles that I have tried in past few years, definitely at this pocket friendly price. It had the right amount of finely chopped tossed veggies and mustard greens in it, add some green chillies in vinegar, red chilli paste and there you go. Must try.
d) CHICKEN GRAVY NOODLES: And here is the dish most bengalis would feel safe to try out :) As usual one awesome preparation. The chunky chicken pieces and diced veggies, the aromatic gravy everything was just perfect, goes very well with some spicy porky sides.
Service & Billing ---- The orders are collected pretty promptly after you grab some seat. And the food is served at brisk pace, comes to you definitely by 10 minutes. Polite staffs and helpful suggestions, what else can you ask for. No one can match their quality at these cheap rates. Coming to the billing - Printed bill is not provided at this place, you need to pay by cash and yes, there is no additional taxes charged. Our total bill for above dishes came to just INR 430/-. One thing - Try to reach this place before 3PM (for lunch), the doors are closed sharp at 3PM and no new customers are entertained then.
Overall ---- This is the place with dark, old and odd looks serving awesome value-for-money old-school chinese in town. If you haven't yet tried them out please go and have one meal. Try to overlook the shabby interiors and just get lost in the delicacies served right in front of you. Hog as much as you like without thinking about the pocket pinch. Or you may go for take-away as well. After you taste them I bet you will certainly spread the word!
Cheers!
Many people of my age or younger are unaware of the existance of this place but once you try them out you will surely spread the word, and this word-of-mouth advertising is very much required for this age old eatery. Now let's get down to the review:
Location ---- Couple of weeks back I was here at this place with one of my foodie friends, both of us had little clue about the location. Actually it is a bit tricky for the ones who are not regular at this place near Terreti Bazar. You need to get down at Central Metro Station and take the lane alongside the dark Shivaji statue. You have to walk for a minute or two and then you will find the place on your left. It's best if you turn on your GPS when you are coming out of the Central Metro station. Parking your car in front of the eatery can again be a bit tricky. You might need to park it somewhere near Poddar Court, which is very close though.
Ambiance ---- As I said earlier the place literally is worn out, it is bit dilapidated with decaying walls and not-so-cool sitting arrangements, simple wooden tables and plastic chairs, and ofcourse no AC. But hey, who cares! Atleast for a foodie like me this is a piece of heaven, one hidden gem! You will find some ancient chandeliers and lamps which are screaming out the tales of bygone era and making things even more enigmatic. On the tables you will find small and cute Coke and Thumpsup bottles as Salt and pepper shakers. Apart from that the cutleries are not that impressive, chopsticks are provided on request. The place is frequented by local Chinese people and Bengali foodies who are surely the loyalists, to say the least.
Food ---- Both in terms of quality and quantity I will rate this place 5 out of 5, no doubt about that. Most of their dishes can be shared by two. We had ordered for:
a) CHICKEN WANTON SOUP: It was heaven for me. On my next visit to this place I have promised only to have this soup for my meal, nothing else. One bowl of soup is sufficient for two. The clear broth is extremely flavourful, aromatic, soothing and healthy. It has got nearly ten steamed chicken wantons in it, clear soup with lovely meat chunks, mustard green and silky wanton skins...bliss! Add a bit of chilli vinegar, soya sauce, red pasted chillies and you are sure to fall into a state of euphoric evarlasting joy! It'll be a crime if you don't try this item out.
b) PORK HAMEI SAUCES: A dream dish for pork lovers. Tug Nam has been always a heaven for them. Pork in Hamei Sauce is good and goes well with Yaam Mein. It has got one typical smell from the oil of that Hamei sauce which might not suit everyone. The pork pieces were soft and well cooked with right proportion of fat in it. Quantity was good as well. Will try out their chilli pork next time.
c) VEG YAAM MEIN: I absolutely loved this preparation and maybe I'm going to try them out everytime I am at this place. It is one better tasty tossed noodles that I have tried in past few years, definitely at this pocket friendly price. It had the right amount of finely chopped tossed veggies and mustard greens in it, add some green chillies in vinegar, red chilli paste and there you go. Must try.
d) CHICKEN GRAVY NOODLES: And here is the dish most bengalis would feel safe to try out :) As usual one awesome preparation. The chunky chicken pieces and diced veggies, the aromatic gravy everything was just perfect, goes very well with some spicy porky sides.
Service & Billing ---- The orders are collected pretty promptly after you grab some seat. And the food is served at brisk pace, comes to you definitely by 10 minutes. Polite staffs and helpful suggestions, what else can you ask for. No one can match their quality at these cheap rates. Coming to the billing - Printed bill is not provided at this place, you need to pay by cash and yes, there is no additional taxes charged. Our total bill for above dishes came to just INR 430/-. One thing - Try to reach this place before 3PM (for lunch), the doors are closed sharp at 3PM and no new customers are entertained then.
Overall ---- This is the place with dark, old and odd looks serving awesome value-for-money old-school chinese in town. If you haven't yet tried them out please go and have one meal. Try to overlook the shabby interiors and just get lost in the delicacies served right in front of you. Hog as much as you like without thinking about the pocket pinch. Or you may go for take-away as well. After you taste them I bet you will certainly spread the word!
Cheers!
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